Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Morrisville-Stow State Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Morrisville, Vermont 05661
Sunday, May 9, 2004 14:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During departure, about 700 feet into the takeoff roll, the pilot observed that the left engine "seemed to lose a little manifold pressure," and he aborted the takeoff. While decreasing power during the aborted takeoff, the outboard section of the right wing "exploded." The airplane was stopped on the runway, and the occupants were evacuated. Examination of the airplane revealed that the upper and lower portions of the right outboard wing skin had separated from the wing structure. The inboard fuel cell vent line nipple was broken off from the cell, and examination of the area where the nipple had broken off revealed that the rubber was brittle and deteriorated. Further examination of the wing revealed that a 28-volt power wire used for a wingtip recognition light modification, was routed from the wing root area to the wingtip, following an aft stringer, and passing thru ribs via stringer cutouts with no chaffing protection. The wire was found to be shorted, and displayed evidence of arching to the wing structure. The airplane was equipped with four flexible rubber fuel cells, two in each wing panel. The rubber fuel cell involved in the accident was produced in 1977, and installed during the production of the airplane, which was completed in 1978. The wingtip recognition light modification was completed in 1987. According to the PA-31-350 Service Manual Inspection Report Checklist, a mechanic was to inspect fuel cells and lines for leaks, inspect the condition of the fuel cell material (every two years), and inspect the fuel cell vents (replacing the fuel tank vent line as required, or every five years, whichever came first).
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The improper installation of an electrical wire, which resulted in arching and the initiation of a fuel vapor explosion. A factor related to the accident was the failure of maintenance personnel to detect a cracked rubber fuel vent line nipple.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/9/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1400 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Morrisville |
| Event State | VERMONT |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 05661 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 443208N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0723600W |
| Event Location Airport | Morrisville-Stow State Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MVL |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 732 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.19 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 7 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19770 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Pilot |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 9 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1420 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 30 2006 1:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Portland, ME |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N151LL |
| NTSB Number | NYC04LA119 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | In-flight |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-31-350 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 31-7852025 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 7000 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 7 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 19 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 8 |
| Airframe Hours | 6642 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Newport Charter Inc. LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Little Silver |
| Aircraft Owner State | NJ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 07739 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | -- |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | -- |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | MVL |
| Departure City | Morrisville |
| Departure State | VT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | GON |
| Destination City | Groton |
| Destination State | CT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - roll/run |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 25 2006 3:11PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MUZD |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 02 |
| Runway Length | 3700 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |